Skill Is Not All In War
by Supergum1295
Summary: Three kids get transported to Tellius to show everyone there... something we have yet to find out. Ch. 3 up! And this time, in Coral's POV! Let's see how much this story changes with the point of voice of... a GIRL? Anyway, R&R, and remember to enjoy!
1. Prologue: Under Gray Skies

Okay, then, let me start by saying that this is my first fanfiction, so please take it easy on me. Otherwise, have fun reading!

...or not.

Please Read and Review. Criticism is the construction of literary greatness.

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**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN FIRE EMBLEM!** ...Even though I would give my house to own it.

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**Prologue: Under Gray Skies**

It was a bright day as I woke up... until I noticed the clock. "I'm LATE!"- I screamed as I ran out of my room to brush my teeth and put on my clothes, all while skillfully balancing a piece of toast on my mouth. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Gotta run!"-I shouted rapidly, and I was out within 5 minutes.

I ran off, ultimately reaching the average speed of a twelve-year-old's bicycle, up until I crashed. "Oh, my god! I am so sorry, miss! Are you okay!"-I asked to a grounded woman. Bad. It turned out to be my long-time crush... Coral. She rubbed the back of her head in pain. "Coral! I am so sorry, again! Is there anything I could do!"- I shouted. Great, now I'm shouting at a girl. "Yes, I'm just a bit bruised, Ben. Thank you for your consideration, but please watch where you are going next time..."-she moaned. She stumbled to her feet, which gave me an amazing idea. "Coral... you look a bit bad. How about I help you walk to school?"-I hesitatingly asked. She smiled. "Sure."-was all she replied.

I can't believe that worked! We walked with my hand around her shoulder for a while until we spotted my friend Ivan with a puzzled look looking at a house. "Ben, you dog!"-he screamed. I stared at him, then I realized. I still had my arm around Coral! She stared at me with a face that seemed to ask "are you actually enjoying this or something?" I immediately released my arm and quickly explained. "Her leg was banged up, so I offered to help her. That's all!"-I explained. "He is not my boyfriend."-she said, rather bluntly. "Yeah, what she said!"-I said. What? It was the best I could say in such an awkward situation!

"So, what is this little house?"-I asked. "Oh, it's said to be the base of operations for a CIA group of agents, many of them scientists. It's said they're building a time machine!"-he said. "Hey! I just got an idea!"-he continued. "Let's head in there!"-he finished...

...And before we could object, he was off. Me and Coral dashed madly to try and catch up with him, even when he entered the house; that's when he finally stopped after a few seconds. The house was full of strange paintings such as wolves, dragons, feather-obsessed ladies, and others. I took a glance at one of them and it showed an old lady and a thief fighting a man on a dragon. I wondered what that painting meant. I leaned over to Coral. "There sure are paintings of the same people here. Do you think...?"-I began. "They're probably civil rights activists or something."-she whispered back. I shrugged. In the middle of the conversation, Ivan managed to sneak out of the living room out into the back room. "Awesome!"-you could hear him shout. Were there really CIA agents there? If they were, why would they be giving their info to a 14-year-old boy? "Ladies first!"- was the first thing I could say while I was shoving Coral in front of the back door. "I wonder where you got that courtesy from..."-she answered sarcastically. I really wondered about it myself. Could it be my heritage? Coral slowly opened the door, and we popped our heads through the gap in the door. "Guys! You have to see this! There really are secret CIA agents stationed here!"-he said. "Hello. My codename is Brand. I...cannot tell you my real name."-a burly-looking man that appeared to be in his 30's introduced himself.

Brand showed us all of his and his comrades inventions... until he came to a sudden halt."Now, we showed you all of our technology. We have the legal right to kill you now."-he said. We all flinched. I acted fast and took a rusty metal rod next to me. "I'm warning you! I was trained in spear fighting from my ancestors! I know how to use this!"-I shouted. Interested, he responded, "Spear fighting, eh? This just got a whole lot better." We were all quite puzzled. "Excuse me, Mr. Brand, but what exactly do you mean?"-Coral asked. "Tell you what. I won't kill you if you approve to be volunteers on a super-secret mission of ours."-he said. "Super-secret mission! Sweet! What's it all about?"-Ivan asked. "It's about our latest invention, the time machine!"-Brand answered. "Awesome! A real live time machine! You normally see this stuff in movies or something, but not in real life!"-Ivan shouted excitedly. "Just head on there and lie down... don't worry. You'll be outfitted with the proper gear once you land.

We sat in our respective little capsules and placed some sensors on our torsos and heads. The scientists told us to put our minds blank and fall asleep. Easier said than done. "Hey, Ivan, this reminds me of that movie with the blue people!"-I said. "Oh, you mean the Smurfs!"-he screamed. I rolled my eyes, and fell asleep.

I woke up in a small, fluffy bed next to Coral. Ivan was in a sofa-bed. He was the first to wake up. "BEN, YOU DOG!"-he shouted yet again. Coral woke up and screamed in a very high pitch. "What... why are you..."- I started before staring at Coral in the eye. I got out of the bed and apologized. "For the second time, he is not my boy..."-she began. We all looked out a window and saw some men attacking what appeared to be villagers 3 floors below us. "Sweet! A medieval fight!"-Ivan said, and again rushed down to meet his "destiny" with the villains. "Ivan!"-Coral called out, to no avail, of course. "We can't catch him like this. We have to jump out the window."-I proudly said. "Have you lost your mind as well! How are we going to get down three floors!"-she asked. I put on a suit of black armor hanging on a wall and tossed her a black shield. "Have you ever sled down a hill before?"-I asked her. "What! You don't mean we're going to sled down this building, are we!-she shouted. I just smirked. "Do you have any other idea?"-I asked her. She just sighed and grabbed the shield from the floor. "Let's do this..."-she said, and got on her shield. I got on mine, and within seconds, we were off.

It was mere seconds, but we rolled down curtains and clotheslines... the thing I didn't think about was the landing. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. Luckily, I landed on something squishy... and red. Wonder what that was? Coral's immediate scream put me back on track. "What is it!"-I asked her. "A man... WE KILLED A MAN!"-she screamed. "This is all your fault! Now we have to go to court procedures, go to jail for life, and face a rotten death with open showers and unflushed toilets!"-she whined. "Coral! Look! This was a bad guy! Just look at his bloody ax and his loot bag that conveniently says "stolen funds!"-I consoled her. "We did...?" "Ben! Coral! I was about to kill that guy!"-Ivan shouted at us. We looked back and saw Ivan, with two strange people.

"Guys! This is the Dawn Brigade... well, part of it. They gave me this ax and told me to fight for justice with this. When I asked them what justice was, they said that I should just cut some bandit heads off. Let's tag along with them just to see if we can find our purpose here!"- Ivan said. I stood there, mouth agape, and so did Coral. Behind Ivan was a beautiful girl with silver hair, and next to her was a boy with brown hair, about 1 or 2 years older than me, with a sword sheathed on his back. "Hello, my name is Micaiah, and this is my companion Edward."-she said, extending me a hand. Sorry, lady, but my heart is taken, thank you very much. I shook her hand and Coral followed suit. "Couldn't you just refer to me as 'friend'?"-Edward sighed. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Man, I know how you feel."-I said, pointing to Coral. "Thanks. Nice to know that I'm not alone..."-he said, sighing again. "My name's Ben. I want to..."-I began before I was rudely interrupted by a bandit's roar.

The savage lunged at me with his ax. I pushed him off with my shield, and was about to brandish my weapon, when I realized, I had no weapon. I tried to fight him off with the shield, but it was too much. I had to improvise. I took out a pocketknife from my belt and clicked it open. "Sayonara, sucker."-I whispered. I stabbed him straight across the chest. It looked painful, as the poor guy fell to the floor in pain screaming. He wasn't dead yet, and he could get up at any moment. I acted quick. I held my breath, closed my eyes and stabbed the dude fist-deep into his chest. I appeared to have gotten a lucky shot. He was unmoving and quiet. I had stabbed him straight through the heart. "Ben... CLEAN YOUR GLOVES!"-Coral screamed at me after looking at my blood-stained gloves.

"Nice job with a knife... however... your awkwardness and heavy armor tell me you're not a thief at all!"-Edward said. "A thief? I would never resort to such a path!"-I scoffed. Micaiah slapped me across the back of my head following. "Ow! Why did she...!"-I asked Edward. "Her closest friend is a thief. He is also the Dawn Brigade's leader."-he explained. "Here, take this spear we stole from a Begnion soldier."-he told me, extending an averagely made spear over to me. "This should fix your troubles."-he said.

Then, it all hit me... I sort of knew what was happening here... where we were, what we were doing, why we were doing that, all of it... including Micaiah's secret. "We're not done here..."-I said. "On the other side of a plaza... the boss of this tiny group of bandits. Name's Pugo."-I continued. "Ben... how do you know this?"- Micaiah asked me, with a stern look on her face, as if she inferred that I used to be from those bandits. "I... don't know. It just popped up in my head all of a sudden... just... let's go and check!"-I shouted.

We ran to the other side of the plaza, and, sure enough, Pugo was there, checking the bodies of his teammates."You! I saw you kill my mates!"-he shouted. "I''ll give you double the labor once I capture all of you!"-he continued. "You steal what little these people earn, Pugo, and then you waste it! You should be ashamed of yourself! In the name of love and justice... I will punish you!"- I screamed.

He readied his ax and charged. I dodged and countered with a spear strike to the shoulder; my signature move. He winced in pain and flinched. I smashed my shield in his face, dazing him, but he aimed for my legs almost immediately! I hopped to dodge the blow and used the spear's blade to try and cut his neck, but he intercepted it and flipped me over. Weaponless, I dodged his blows until he backed me into a corner. About to launch the final strike, I prepared for pain, but in a blurry flash, Pugo was on the floor, his chest burning... literally, burning. He screamed in agony and died.

"Thank you, Micaiah. If it wasn't for you, I would have died myself."-I thanked. Micaiah stood up from her pose and noticed a small gash on my right arm. "Ooh... here, let me take care of that!"-she hurried up to me. " No, Micaiah. You shouldn't."-said a voice from behind us. It was a blonde-haired man, about the same age as Edward, and he was wearing a blue shirt, as compared to Edward's red coat."Leonardo, you came a bit too late for the party!" Edward greeted the boy, whose name apparently was Leonardo. "Leonardo, was it? Mice to meet you. My name is Ben."-I said, stretching my hand out to him. " One second..." -he began. He leaned over to Micaiah. "Micaiah, who are these people?"-he asked. "These are our reinforcements. They can see into the future, like me. Ben just saved me from being back-stabbed by an unseen bandit." -Micaiah explained.

As Micaiah was getting Leonardo up to speed, with Ivan's help, Coral came up to me. "I can offer to heal that wound of yours..."-she said. I looked at my arm. I had forgotten for quite a while about it. " Y...Yes, please."-I said, blushing. She borrowed my pocketknife and ripped a piece out of her shirt, revealing her bellybutton. "Coral... thank you."-I said, my face bright red. "No problem..."-she continued. Her face was a bit red as well. She raised her head and our eyes met. "Ben! Do you have a fever!"-she suddenly screamed. " Your face is beet red!" -she shouted. By then, everyone had turned their heads to watch. It was then that her face turned as red as mine. "Coral! You and Ben seem to be getting mighty close over there!"-Ivan bellowed at us, guffawing. "Are those two married?"-Micaiah asked, rather seriously, albeit with a minutely puzzled face. I was about to open my mouth, but the embarrassment took the words out of me. "No! We are not married, much less engaged! And Ivan, for the third time, he is NOT my boyfriend!"-she screamed.

I took this opportunity to run away through an alley... but... I had this feeling that something was happening. I took the stairs that lead to the rooftops atop the plaza and saw some soldiers clad in red armor threatening the Dawn Brigade. I ran up, and using the element of surprise, stabbed one through the back. The other two soldiers looked at me and attacked. One went to lunge at me, while the other readied his bow. I dodged both the arrow and the lance and was about to strike, when I heard a strong voice. "Knaves! What are you doing with this Daein scum!"-he said. A shot of farsight hit me. These were Begnion Soldiers I was attacking, and the voice belonged to Jarod, the commander of the Daein State branch of the Begnion Army. "Well, if it isn't Jarod, the narcissist halberdier who steals from commoners!"-I said. My comment surprised everyone below, especially Micaiah, for some reason. "And you might be whom, to know so much about me?"-he asked.

"I am Ben, Time-Traveling Soldier from America. Your exploits are famed across my country... it is written in history..."-I began. "My... exploits? Famed?"-he asked. The Dawn Brigade gasped, with reason. If Jarod was to have famed exploits, then that would mean that the Dawn Brigade's mission would fail. "However... I have come to erase history."-I said. Jarod was angered by this. "You think you can end my future reign by yourself? En guarde, boy! I'll joust you down right here!"-he bellowed. "Hah! I think I'll toy with you and your minions a bit... Dawn Brigade! Run! I'll take care of Jarod!"-I ordered. This took the soldiers aback, who then awaited his superior's orders. "What are you waiting for, men! After them!"-he screamed. "You... I have a good mind to rip you to shreds right about now... You're becoming quite a thorn in my side... The only chance I get of catching the Dawn Brigade, and you just waste it! HA! I will pulverize you, then take down your precious Dawn Brigade as well!

"Hah... you forget... I didn't come on this mission alone... there are two other operatives on this mission as well. Just because you kill me, doesn't mean the mission is over!"- I threatened him. He flinched. "With technology like theirs, they can arrest you as soon as they notice I'm out of commission. Either way, if you let me go or kill me, your mission will fail!"-I exclaimed. Jarod flinched. He knew that if he killed me, he was going to die later. If he doesn't kill me, I'll still be alive to be a thorn in his side. He took his chances, apparently, and ran away, in chase of the Dawn Brigade. I took another route in chase of him... even higher in the rooftops.

I lost trace of the Dawn Brigade ever since...

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That's the prologue... It's rather long, but it holds both Micaiah's prologue and Ben's prologue, so, yeah...

**NOTES:  
**As you might have noticed already, this fanfic also gives you a different view of the story... it feels like I'm playing with fire here, tampering with the game's major plotline, but I don't really care much. After all, creativity is key in an OC story.

I'm giving Ben a bit of "farsight" so he can see the dangers around him, exactly like Micaiah's farsight. This may be due to me playing the game already, but I won't spoil stuff with the farsight, don't worry.

Yes, It'll be a running joke how Coral counts the times she says "He's not my boyfriend"... until he _does_ become her boyfriend, of course. Not telling when!

And that's about it! Chapter 1's coming soon, as well. I'll keep this plotline going on for a long time! (imagines self driving an RV through a Colorado highway)


	2. Chapter 1: Silver Haired Maiden

Well, here goes... the prologue went off with a shaky start, but I have high hopes for this chapter, so... without further ado, let's begin!

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.**

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**Chapter 1: Maiden of Miracles**

I strolled alongside the Nevassa roads for about an hour or so... until I got hungry. I went for my pockets, when I realized... pockets had not been invented yet! I moaned. My lunch money had all but disappeared. It was then that I devised a small satchel tied to my belt. I opened it, and in it were a few gold coins. It was little, but, according to my grandfather, everything cost a hundred times less than what it costs now, Candy cost a penny when now it costs 80 cents. If that was back in the 1930s, I wondered what inflation was like in the year 846 A.D.

I bought a chicken. I've cooked chicken drumsticks before, but the chicken was long dead. Anyway, my chicken was being noisy, and I wanted to play psycho, so I was to take the chicken to the alley. While I was starting to leave, however, I was interrupted by a kid.

"Hey, mister!" -he shouted. He didn't look to be older than 7 or 8 years.

"Hey there, kiddo. Whatcha want?"- I asked.

"I saw you and your girlfriend sled down the inn's windows today, and you crushed one of the bandits! That was so cool!"- Oh boy, I have a fan... wait, what did he say?

"I also saw you on the rooftops with the bad man that hurts people! You scared him off like a puppy dog!"-

I blushed. "Well... You couldn't say I _scared_ him off..."

"My name's Nico! I'm the Dawn Brigade's number one fan!"- he introduced himself. "Do you know the lady with the silver hair? She's really nice."- he asked. "Yes, I know her. I am part of the Dawn Brigade, after all."- I answered.

It was about then that I heard running footsteps... a lot of running footsteps.

"This way!"- a masculine voice shouted.

I was swept away by a hand. I looked at my free arm, and sure enough... the noisy chicken was still there. I looked up and devised Coral's face... holding my hand!

"Please make this look like what is isn't..."- Coral asked. I would, if it meant, well... Ivan. The rest you might know. I nodded and kept up with the gang in our race... why were we running, again?

"Coral, why are we running?"-was the question that broke the silence of our panicking breaths.

"Begnion... soldiers. They... somehow... found our hideout..."-she panted. A ballerina and a former gymnast, Coral is no slouch when it came to running, and neither are Ivan and I.

"We've... been... running... around 20 minutes now..."- Ivan gasped. Dang, they must have a lot of stamina on them. Last year, I had this zombie-addict friend who taught me how to survive an assault from anything without a brain. He said that I needed a lot of stamina if I was to survive a zombie riot. Do these soldiers even have brains? ...I think not.

We ran quite a while; about 10 minutes more, until we all collapsed in a tired heap on an alley road. I laid there, gasping and panting for air. This armor was heavy; I felt like I just ran a marathon with my backpack on. A few minutes passed, and I could see some new people in the Dawn Brigade. I got up from my awkward slumber and panted some words to my present-day pals.

"Coral... Ivan... I see new faces."

"Oh, right! We forgot to introduce you! Ben, let me show you the chiefs of the Dawn Brigade."-Ivan began.

"The hot one with the short shirt and the cape is the boss, Sothe..."-Coral started. My heart should have stopped. That Sothe kid was stealing my girl!

"...but sadly, the guy's taken!"-Ivan finished, much to my delight.

Coral scowled, then finished with a sigh. "So what if he's Micaiah's boyfriend? They can break up at any time! ...Why do you want me to stay single, anyway! Do you like me or something!"

"N-No! Gross! Of course not! Why would I like you! ...Ben's the one who likes you, and I'm trying to save that love!"

Coral shook in anger. She was being called "gross"... She went for his head with the first thing she had in her hand... a magical staff. I stepped forward and took the blow rather well. I didn't feel it because of my armor.

"Coral... stop this madness."-I began.

I turned to Ivan. "Ivan, I most certainly do not like Coral... but, please refrain from calling her what she isn't... If I were to like Coral, I would tell her myself, and object myself. I need not some wannabe Cupid to help me with my personal life. If Coral likes Sothe, I have no problem. It is her life, anyway."- I finished.

Their mouths went slack. I had never stood up for myself in such a way.

It was then that the final member of the Dawn Brigade, a man that looked to be in his mid-30s, ax in hand, towered over all three of us.

"Begnion soldiers are all over us. Looks like this alley is the least armed way out after all."-he said. He was amazingly tall; around 6'7" or so... either way, he was very tall.

"The tall old guy is Nolan. He is a very experienced fighter, with many years of fighting under his belt."-Ivan said. I could see him a little nervous as well.

"They're getting closer to us by the second. We have to escape as fast as you can! I'll create a distraction to buy you some time."-Sothe ordered. He told Nolan to command the Dawn Brigade in his absence. Nolan nodded and turned to us.

"Micaiah, how many do you see?"-he asked.

"In estimate? I see no more than ten."-she answered.

"Good. Now, listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. We'll go with the two-two-three formation. Me and..."-he began. However, he never got my name, so he fumbled around in his mind like the old man he is to see if he remembered my face.

"Ben."-I answered, giving him my name.

"Ben. Me and Ben will take the front lines with our armor. Edward and Ivan, you take backup behind us! Leonardo, Micaiah, and Coral will help us from behind with healing and long-range support! Got it!"-he shouted.

I gulped. I hadn't taken the front line before, but I heard it hurts. Luckily, I have Coral and Micaiah behind me, though relying on Micaiah's Sacrifice ability would be mean.

"Formations, everyone! We launch the attack in 15 seconds!"-Nolan ordered. I got into position next to Nolan, our bodies blocking the alley's width. Behind me stood Edward and Ivan, and behind them stood Leonardo, Micaiah and Coral, in left-to-right order.

"Three... two... one... ATTACK!"-he ordered. This took the attention of many a soldier around us. I directed my attention to a fighter dashing towards me. I intercepted him with my lance, and struck him in the leg. He fell down in pain, and Ivan fave him a mortal cut through the stomach with his ax, dealing the finishing blow.

I ran towards a fighter who had been giving Leonardo and Coral trouble; he wasn't watching his back. I stabbed him through the chest and got Coral out of the little corner they were in, both metaphorically and concretely. I signaled them to help, because Ivan, Edward, and Nolan were in a bit of a fix.

We were halfway there in a matter of seconds. No wonder this was the least armed way out.

Micaiah looked close to fainting; while she had not experienced real combat this time around, she apparently had overused her Sacrifice ability on her comrades. I ordered Coral to heal Micaiah while Leonardo took Micaiah's place with indirect support.

It was like a miracle; we had gotten to the end of the alley, and barely wounded at that! All that was left was the boss. He looked tough, and he had a rather tougher-looking sword. I approached him, what with my armor, and looked at him square in the eyes. I let out a battle cry and shot for his stomach. He was fast, though, and he back-flipped to dodge my blow. He leaped and countered by slashing my chest.

I was right; that was a sharp sword. It cut through my armor as if it were paper and cut my chest real good. I clutched my chest and took out a red hand. I was bleeding a lot.

I looked at my wound and, all of a sudden, my attitude changed. My eyebrows bent, my face scrunched up, and my teeth bared. I was piping mad! I started spinning my lance in a circular motion to gain centrifugal force and leaped into the air. I landed right in front of the myrmidon and took him down with one blow to the stomach. It went clean through him too.

I collapsed to the ground after that. What I could see before blacking out was Ivan carrying me over his shoulder, and Coral administering first aid to me while we were all running.

After that, I woke up in a tent. I didn't see anyone next to me this time... sadness.

"Rise and shine, Ben!"-Coral greeted me, opening my tent's flap. She must have noticed my movements as I was waking up.

"Hi, Coral. Can you please tell me where I am?"-I asked her. She giggled.

"Have you become funnier all of a sudden?"-she laughed. I blushed and started a conversation with her... at 4:00 in the morning.

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Well there you have it, that's Chapter 1. I know this was a bit rushed, but at least the conversations are better noted, and the battle scenes went out a bit better than I expected.

Questions:

Q: Ben only killed like 3 people when Micaiah estimated 10 troops! How is that possible!  
A: Remember that in this map, there are two enemy units placed in such a matter that they are useless. This is added by the fact that they're immobile. _ Also, there were 4 people in battle formation on the front lines. They took care of the majority of the enemy soldiers. In all, you could say that the combined efforts of Nolan, Edward, Ivan, and Micaiah killed about 4 people.

Q: Why does the ending look so unclean?  
A: I only had 24 hours, and the endings for the first chapters don't really have much content. I'll fix this within the next couple hours or so.


	3. Chapter 2: The Dispossessed

Well, if the prologue was bad, Chapter 1 was worse. -_- The problem was time; I had a mental deadline of 24 hours... subtract 8 hours of sleep, and 15 hours of procrastination, and you get a rushed story. .

Well, at least I spent much more time (almost a week) making this chapter, which makes it more thoroughly made. So, without further ado, let's begin!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem.**

It had been already 2 hours, and Coral had been administering first aid to me all that time.

"You know, Ben... you're nicer than you look."-she giggled.

"Oh... Thanks."- I added, blushing madly.

Shortly after, a nearby rooster did its thing, and not a second passed before our "heroic hero", as he called himself, woke up.

"Good morning!"-Ivan shouted in a booming voice that woke up everyone except Sothe and Nolan, who were checking proper equipment.

"Stow it, you gargantuan, yet young buffoon! You'll give away our position!"-Sothe yelled back.

I turned to Coral. "You still like Sothe?"-I asked. She gave me a look that said "I don't know" right in my face.

"I don't know... what do you think, Ben? Should I ask him out!"-she blurted. She got closer to me by the second.

I tilted my body back in fear, but later, I regained my composure. "Coral, isn't the guy supposed to act on his feelings first?"- I asked.

She pondered the question. "You're a very romantic man, Benjamin. I believe Micaiah deserves no less than you!"-she answered. Micaiah! Immediately, another myth of mine was busted: Girls are good matchmakers.

"Micaiah! But Micaiah's taken by Sothe!"

"Exactly, Ben. When Sothe gets taken by me, you'll catch a heartbroken Micaiah in the rebound." I disliked the smirk she had on her face, as if I was just some pawn in her master plan to take Sothe for her.

"Coral, isn't he too old for you?"

She twirled her head in anger. "So what if he's three years older than me! That doesn't take away my right to love him!"

"But... Coral..." I was about to say that I loved her, but I clammed up.

"I... have no objection. You are right."- I said. It's not like it's pedophilia; Sothe isn't over 18, and there's only like 3 years of difference here.

Coral nodded, and before she could go and pack her stuff, Micaiah stood up.

"Listen up, people, the march begins now! Get your things and keep walking!"-she announced.

We walked about 25 miles in one day; average, according to Nolan. Micaiah lifted her hand, signaling us to stop.

"That's enough for today. We'll sleep in the grass right here."- she said.

Edward sighed. "Another night sleeping in the grass with nothing but bugs to keep us warm?"

"Edward, what do you expect! We're fugitives, not noblemen! Just... please, everything will work out." She sounded like my mother when she said that... I wondered why she has that silver hair, anyway.

"Help us!"- someone shouted. The voice belonged to a young priest, about my age. I couldn't see her face well from far away, so I rushed in to help.

I got a good look at her face; she was beautiful, with green eyes and short black hair. I looked into her eyes.

"What do you need, madame?"- I asked.

She blushed. "Well... first of all, my name's Laura, and my village's abbot is ill."-she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You're saying that we should go and heal him with Sacrifice and staffs, right?"- I assured her.

"No... not even the village's bishops could heal the abbot. What we need is medicine... but... the occupying army confiscated all of our medicine. I come to you to seek aid in recovering the abbot's medicine."-she sobbed.

I grabbed her shoulders. "Not to worry, Laura. We will find your medicine. We were just on our way to Kisca anyway."

"Ben, what you are saying entails breaking our cover! Plus, my sources say that Jarod is near Kisca. If we were to break our cover there, it would be devastating!"-Sothe exclaimed.

"So we are just going to leave an old man to die and a young girl lost of hope! Sothe, if the Dawn Brigade isn't going, then I am going alone."- I proclaimed.

"Brother... I see pureness and sincerity in this woman's eyes. She is not lying nor is she a spy. We can, and need to do this for Kisca's abbot."- Micaiah backed me up.

There was utter silence for a while. "Fine... we'll go. We'll find a way out once our location has been leaked to Jarod."-Sothe grumbled.

"Oh, many blessings, brave knight! Thank you very much!"-Laura thanked me. "Brave knight"? This I could get used to.

I left Laura to speak with Micaiah and went to my spot in the grass to pack my stuff. On my way there, though, Ivan stopped me by making me run into his own palm. He didn't look happy.

"What are you doing, flirting with another woman! Your girl is Coral, and you know it!"- he shouted.

I sighed. I felt like screaming and pointing a finger to his face. "I was not flirting with her, and Coral is not my girlfriend."- I stated.

Ivan let out a laugh. "That last part sounded exactly like Coral would say it! You two really are meant to be!"-he guffawed. I didn't. I just shook my head.

"Is it a crime to stop liking a woman? Need I remind you that I'm not the only one who's lost interest in her!"-I shouted.

I huffed and stormed away. I didn't see Ivan at camp after that.

We were at the manor. Micaiah did a head count and counted 7 heads: Ben, Coral, Micaiah, Edward, Leonardo, Nolan, and Laura.

"Hmm... we're short two heads."-Micaiah noted.

"Ivan and Sothe went to open the storage room for us. They'll be back soon."-Nolan said. Weird for Ivan not to prefer the front lines.

Laura walked up to me. "I can help! I can heal you if you are hurt, oh, brave knight!"-she announced.

Coral groaned. "Ben, remember that she's not the only healer around! Don't hesitate to call me, either!"- she asked.

I sighed. Were these two fighting over me? I really didn't know what was going on in those healers' little heads.

I rushed over to the nearest soldier, caught him off guard, and immobilized him with my signature shoulder stab. I defeated him with a stab to the chest, and hurried up the stairs.

On the second floor of the manor, Edward and Leonardo had already dispatched many enemies on this floor due to a ledge without railing that they could climb up. However, I had not noticed an archer on the top floor who shot an arrow at my shoulder, wounding me.

"Ben!"-Coral shouted, as she saw me clutching my shoulder with an arrow still on it. She took the arrow out and healed the wound with her staff. Meanwhile, Laura had just finished healing both Edward and Leonardo of their battle wounds.

Micaiah and Nolan were down on the first floor's treasure room taking tomes and swords using the keys that Leonardo took from the guard after killing him.

We had just finished reaching the third floor when the side door was opened. Sothe and Ivan popped out and took an Archer and a Soldier down by surprise.

"The storage room is open. We could enter there, and then sneak out the back entrance."- Sothe said. Ivan kept silent. While we distracted the guards, Laura managed to sneak into the storage room and take the medicine.

We had no more business there, so we left through the back door, as Sothe said. It worked, because I saw Jarod and his army entering through the front door just then. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued our journey. "Where were we going?" was my question, and "Why am I here?". I looked at the auburn sky and the setting sun at the end of the forest, and hoped that the answers would be revealed.

"I'll just bring this medicine to the abbot and come back tomorrow. I want to join you on your journey!"- Laura exclaimed. We were all aghast, except Coral, who, for some reason, seemed full to the brim with rage. Laura waved at us and left running to Kisca.

At "camp", Coral grabbed me by the shoulders, her eyes filled with a mix of despair and rage. "Ben! You aren't seriously falling for that... priest, are you!"-she yelled.

"So what if I am? You're falling for Sothe, and I have no objections."

"But, Ben, I see evil in her. What if she's an evil seductress bent on stealing your brain! You can never be too sure..." She twiddled her thumbs while saying this.

"Oh, come on, Coral. Stop that. You're giving me the wrong idea..." This took the despair from her eyes, leaving pure rage.

"Listen, punk. I have _no_ romantic interest in you, and YOU... ARE... NOT... MY... BOYFRIEND!"

Listening to that commonly said phrase woke me up from my trance. Why did these words strike me like daggers to the heart? Why do I feel so woozy? Why did Laura's face start drifting away...? Deep in thought, I blacked out.

I woke up the next day... AT SUNSET. "Ben! You're awake! Hurry!"- Micaiah shouted.

"Why? What's wrong!"

"Laura's gone missing! We sent Sothe to check if she was OK back in Kisca, but she wasn't there, neither was she in the route! Hurry!"

Micaiah split us all up into search parties; girls and boys. The girls brought Ivan as a balance-maker.

"All right, boys, search the main route to Kisca to see if you find her. We'll search the forest route. We meet at Kisca's plaza at sundown."-Micaiah announced.

We searched the main route for about an hour and a half, for after that, it became too dark to search.

We waited at the plaza for about 15 more minutes, when we met with this bloody, banged-up Ivan, and no girls in tow.

"Ivan! What happened!"-Sothe began. Ivan tilted his head down and shed a tear.

"W... WHERE ARE MICAIAH AND THE OTHERS!"-he immediately shouted.

"Jarod... he attacked us... apparently he knew we were split up and used Laura as a hostage... the other girls were kidnapped and arrested, and I was left to die in the forest."- Ivan said.

"Jarod... this is the last time we will meet. For this time, it's personal."-I mumbled to myself.

"We will find them, Ivan. Don't you worry. Let's go, people!"-Sothe announced.

And with this, we set out on a search for the truth; we will find Coral, Laura and Micaiah... if it means war.

* * *

Well, we have another cliffhanger and another rushed ending... typical of this story. _

LOL at Coral calling Laura an "evil seductress". Just wanted to make her a pivotal character in something, for once.

Anyway, press that little "review" button down there, you'll be glad you did.

Sorry to bother you again, but... write in the "Review" section... should I make the next chapter Coral's POV to make it look like the game, or should I keep it in Ben's POV. Also, some plot suggestions are admitted as well.


	4. Chapter 3: A Faint Light

Ben: Well, that was pathetic. 2 votes, one of them yourself...Me: And both of them leading to Coral.

Coral: Fine then. I accept; on the condition that you do not write any more fluff about us... we are not Romeo and Juliet, and I still like Sothe after all!

Me: Because I say so...

Coral: No! Sothe! Save me from the fluffy madness!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.**

* * *

**-CORAL'S POV-**

"No! Let me go!"- I shouted. The soldier arresting me had the grip of a wrestler, and it was hurting my wrist to an unbearable level. I looked around at the soldiers arresting my friends, Micaiah and Laura... well, you couldn't call Laura my "friend". I don't know why, but I just don't like her. She's... kind of creepy, in a friendly kind of way.

Micaiah and Laura were being arrested by Jarod and a burly knight who appeared to be his right hand, respectively. Micaiah looked depressed; she let everyone down, she said. She was in deep silence. Laura was also pretty sad, too. It's her fault, she said. She should have been more careful. It's true, after all! She shed a tear before she was tugged by her captor to move forward.

"Coral... Laura... we failed. Our only hope lies on a dying man. I believe we should hang our hats and await our execution..."-Micaiah said. She was crying; you could notice sobs sneaking out with every couple words she said.

I closed my eyes and remembered the mortal blow that Jarod had struck to Ivan's chest. It was a miracle that he could even run. If he got to Kisca, however, their bishops could heal him, and he could help us by reaching Sothe and the others.

"Girls... I have hope. Ivan will reach the boys. I just know it..."-I answered. With this, some soldiers started to chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, pin your hopes on a dying knave. If you're going to intimidate us, do it with someone who actually can fight!"-the soldiers teased. However, I knew that Ivan was alive. It wasn't going to end like this...

The long trail finally led us to the Glaive Prison. They "escorted" us to our cells, where we were "greeted" by our cellmates. I could see a girl sleeping in what appeared to be a bed; I couldn't see well because there were no windows, only torches. I also could see a figure in the corner, I couldn't recognize it as a human... yet, I hoped.

Before I knew it, a woman dressed in gypsy robes came over to us.

"Damn, no men."-she said. What a great way to say hi. She reminded me of those sick girls from St. Anthony Middle School. All they cared about were boys, their girlfriends, and their...ahem, butts.

"Welcome, anyway. My name's Aimee."-she began. Oh, now she tells us her name.

"The snoozing girl over there is Ilyana, and the shy little man over there is named..."-she continued, but stopped at the man's name. She couldn't remember; she was fiddling with her hair and rubbing her chin.

"What was your name, anyway, mister?"-she asked him. The man turned around, and he looked to be around Micaiah's age. 15 to 16, anyway, he looked around that range of age.

"My name is Kurth."-he said. He then turned around to face Micaiah.

"You do know you have a gash in your right arm, right?"-he said. Micaiah looked at him with a puzzled face before looking at her right arm. There actually was a rather deep wound in there; I wondered if she actually had noticed it.

"Oh my! Turns out I do have a gash there. I was so depressed about the arrest that I didn't notice..."-she began. She put her hand on the gash, and took it out. It was as if she had put on a red glove.

"Putting pressure on a wound like that won't to any good. Here, take this and wrap it around your arm."-Kurth said, offering Micaiah a bandage, orange on the outside, with green leaves on the inside.

"It's an infusion of Olivi grass."-he said. His eyes were full of sincerity; he wasn't lying. Micaiah gladly took it and wrapped it around her arm.

"Are you sure you're fine using this... strange medicine?"-Aimee worried. Micaiah nodded.

"I saw no deceit in his face. He is telling the truth."-she said. After this, we heard grunting down the hallway. It was Ivan! He was being arrested by a Daein soldier with a closed helm and ebony black armor.

"Ivan!"- I shouted.

"You're alive and well!"-Micaiah added.

Ivan nodded and smiled. "Wait 'till you see this!"-he added. With this, the soldier arresting him took off his help. The result almost made me shed a tear.

"Lord Benjamin! If you're here, that means..."-Laura began.

With this, Sothe dropped from the roof. "Reinforcements have come. The others are standing outside. Now let's spring you out."- he said, calm and collected as always. So heroic!

He turned to Aimee. "Hello."-he said. I hoped he was just being friendly, not flirty.

"My, look how much you've grown! I believe I'm a bit smitten!"-she said. It was the other way around; Aimee really was as sick as I had thought.

Ben was staring at the ground all the time. He opened the door and sprinted off.

"Where's he going?"- I asked. Sothe had been looking rather worried as well.

"He's been giving us the silent treatment all day long. Last night, he was unusually quiet at dinner as well."- he said. He stared into the distant hallway, looking out for any nearby soldiers.

"Now let's go... we can't afford to spend any more time here!"- he said, motioning for us to leave. As we were leaving, I reminisced on the words I last said to Ben.

"Listen, punk. I have _no_ romantic interest in you, and YOU... ARE... NOT... MY... BOYFRIEND!"-I shouted back then. He blacked out after that, and then... he blacked out. I thought out of the box as to why. Does he really like me! Is he hypoglycemic! I wondered as, for the first time ever, Sothe disappeared from my mind. I decided... I was to speak to Ben after the escape...

We reunited with Ben, Edward and Nolan at the exit.

"Guys! You're alive and well!"- Micaiah said, smiling. Ben flushed and stared violently at the dirt below him. I was about to open my mouth to speak to Ben, but I was interrupted by the army of guards nearing our position.

"Hold it right there! Return to your cells, all of you, and their accomplices as well! If you do so, you won't get hurt!"-the commander of the guards shouted.

"Negative! We will stand our ground!"-Micaiah shouted back.

"Micaiah."-Sothe called. Micaiah turned around. In his hands were three books and two staffs.

"While I was in the armory, I 'borrowed' a couple of tomes and staffs that you can use."-he said.

"Good, now I can fight too!"- Micaiah answered. Sothe gave her a tome that he helped steal in Kisca, and her original tome, a common Light magic tome

Ilyana yawned. "If you lend me that tome, I can fight too."-she mumbled. Sothe gave her two yellow books, quite possibly Thunder magic.

"Um... Sothe? I... kind of got used to using a staff in our last skirmish. Can I borrow a staff too?"- I asked Sothe as I saw Laura take a staff.

"You're fighting with stolen supplies, eh? Let's see how well you fare against my troops! Attack!"-he shouted.

All of a sudden we were surrounded by Fighters and Myrmidons. The problem was that I couldn't fight!

Aimee whistled at me. She motioned for me to come over. "If you hide here, no one will find you."-she said, hiding behind some tall grass.

I hid there too, until I saw Ben getting bullied by a bunch of fighters. He was hurt pretty bad; his shoulder plate was stained red, and the slits below them were bleeding badly. I ran over to one of the fighters and hit him as hard as I could in the back of his head with my staff.

The fighter rubbed the back of his head without even saying "ouch" and lunged atop me to kill me, but Ben stopped him by shish-kabob...ing his chest. In two swift moves, Ben shook off the guard from his lance, and stabbed the bandit behind him for the kill.

"You should run."-was all he said to me. I threw him down onto the floor and placed my staff on him, and the tip started glowing a bright blue.

"Let go... of... me!"-he shouted as he struggled to get off. I lifted the staff off of him when the tip stopped glowing.

"Sorry. I don't take no as an answer when I heal. You had a nearly-broken shoulder there."- I said. Ben froze. He shook his head and left without saying a word. He is definitely crushing on me... but why?

The initial wave was over, so I rested my side against a wall. Bad move. I felt a sharp pain burn in my forearm. An archer had sharp-shot an arrow through the arched wall, which, upon a closer look, gave more resemblance to a large fence than to a wall. A chile could squeeze through it, with the amount of free space left there.

Anyway, I yelped in pain and ran away from the wall. I looked back and saw Ilyana launch a thunderbolt at the archer, blowing him to smithereens. Through the wall, I could also see Sothe taking down a wave of about 5 or 6 enemies, most of them Soldiers and Fighters. It reminded me of that movie where that kung-fu master dude took down 6 martial arts prodigy kids. After Sothe advanced a bit, I noticed Edward and Ben behind him, covering his back.

Ben looked at the wall and saw my bleeding shoulder. "Coral... your shoulder! It's just like mine! Only..."-he shouted, pointing out an arrow stuck feebly into his shoulder plate. There didn't appear to be any penetration... unlike my situation.

"D-Don't worry! I'll get Laura!"- he called. He called Laura's name into the heavens, and she came back, alongside a soldier with the same armor as Ben's. He even had the same type of lance!

"What's the matter, Lord Benjamin!"-she shouted. I cleared my throat and pointed to my injured shoulder.

"Oh, Ashera! Let me get that for you, Lady Coralice!"-she shouted. Coralice! Only my mother called me Coralice... wait, WILL call me, 1,372 years in the future, of course.

She took the arrow from my shoulder carefully and removed it. She then followed by placing her staff on the wound. I could feel the stinging pain from the removal of the arrow slowly disappear until it became none. The wound was closing up at an incredibly fast rate; I could literally see the circle get tinier and tinier, until it was just another skin cell... or something like that.

"Goddess bless you, Lady Laura..."- I said, forgetting for a moment that I hated her.

The soldiers rushed south to reunite and take down the boss of the guard. I ran south and hid behind a wall to the side of the boss. He was on a horse, and he had this blade that nearly sliced Leonardo in two... with its shock wave! I ran over to Leonardo and healed him with my staff.

"Thank you, Coral." Leonardo said before rushing out to attack the boss... only to get hammered again. As I healed him again, I noticed Sothe skillfully steal a small scroll from a distracted boss's satchel. After he ran back to safety, he signaled for Micaiah, who unleashed her newest attack; Thani.

A huge ball of light materialized over the mounted boss while he was being distracted by Ben, Edward and Leonardo. Nolan helped me heal by supplying vulneraries to all his allies. Laura's friend was also there, right next to Ben. It was rather funny; they looked like twins in that matching black armor!

"Get out now! All of you!"-Micaiah signaled. The boss, exhausted, showed a smug grin. His troops might have been nigh decimated, but he maybe thought... still, that we were all crawling back to our cells. He was dead wrong.

As Ben ran out of the way, he noticed Micaiah ordering her bomb down. He looked up, and saw a huge sphere of light 15 feet above him and closing in fast. He screamed at the closing ball of light, which exploded in such a way that it reminded me of the pictures Ben and our friend Henry showed me of "mushroom clouds" caused from... "nukes", or nuclear explosions, in regular language. I swear, I will never understand those present-day soldiers and their military codewords.

I noticed the boss and his horse drop as ashes to the floor. It was rather disturbing, but once the radiation calmed down, he was simply just another pile of ashes. Micaiah ordered us to escape through the front gates that the boss was standing in... and still was, him being a pile of ashes, and all.

Time goes fast, even in battle. It was already sunset when we got past the gates. Our new objective: Get out of Daein grounds, and the fastest way to do that is by entering... the Desert of Death. As the grass disappeared and was replaced by sand, I glanced over at Aimee, who was flirting with Sothe. My Sothe! I had to summon my self-control again to stop me from slapping her.

"So, we can't go back to Daein anymore, huh?"-Ivan asked Micaiah. Micaiah sprang up. It seems she was distracted herself by the flowing sands.

Sothe interrupted Micaiah. "Yes... not for a long time, at least.

Ivan hung his head. "Oh."

I shook my head and continued on.

As for Ben, we had yet to speak a word to each other ever since then...

* * *

Coral: Well, that was... rather unfluffy. ^.^  
Me: Blame Sothe. He saved you.  
Coral: Don't expect me to break up from him soon, you hear me!  
Me: But you already are! Remember! "I wondered as, for the first time ever, Sothe disappeared from my mind..."  
Coral: You... you've read too many fluff stories!  
Me: Yep. Haw!

* * *

And with this, we end what might just be the best chapter yet. I hope there's lots more stuff left to show, and that more chapters will reveal! Well, Supergum1295, signing out... for now!


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